Civilians injured by missiles from Lebanon militants: Israel’s military

Militants fired anti-tank missiles on Sunday near the Israel-Lebanon border and hit a number of civilians, the Israeli military said, adding that it was retaliating with artillery fire.

An Israeli ambulance service spokesperson told Israel’s N12 News one person was critically wounded and between three to five others injured.

Israel media said several vehicles were hit in Israel. Videos circulating on social media showed cars on fire.

Meanwhile, the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon said gunfire from an unidentified source hit a member of its contingent early Sunday, adding that the peacekeeper was in a stable condition.

The statement from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) did not indicate whether the incident was linked to ongoing exchanges of fire on the Lebanese border, mainly between Hezbollah and Israel, since a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 triggered war.

“Shortly after midnight last night, peacekeepers in a UNIFIL position near Al-Qawzah reported hearing gunfire nearby,” force spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said in a statement.

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Palestinian death toll over 10,000 in Israel-Hamas war, with Gaza casualty figures in spotlight

Palestinian death toll over 10,000 in Israel-Hamas war, with Gaza casualty figures in spotlight

“One peacekeeper was hit by a bullet and underwent surgery. He is recovering and currently stable,” the statement said, adding that the origin of the fire was unknown and the force had launched an investigation.

Since the beginning of the Gaza war last month, there have been daily confrontations between the Israeli army and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah on the border between Israel and Lebanon, raising fears a wider regional war could erupt.

On Saturday, the head of Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah group Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that the front against Israel would remain active.

That drew a warning from Israel to the Shiite group not to escalate fighting, even as its military fights a campaign against Hamas in Gaza.

On Sunday morning, Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said Israeli aircraft and drones had carried out raids on border areas and also reported artillery shelling after midnight targeting sites including near Al-Qawzah, where the peacekeeper was wounded.

It said an Israeli drone strike targeted near a restaurant in the Tal Nahas area, without reporting casualties.

Since Hamas’s attack on Israel from Gaza last month, Lebanon’s southern border has seen intensifying tit-for-tat exchanges, mainly between Israel and Hezbollah, an ally of the Palestinian group, stoking fears of a broader conflagration.

Israeli fire, some on targets in Syria, has killed at least 70 Hezbollah fighters since hostilities broke out, according to an AFP tally based on statements from the group.

At least 12 other combatants have also been killed, as well as 11 civilians in Lebanon including a Reuters journalist.

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At least six soldiers and two civilians have been killed on the Israeli side.

Israeli officials say Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people and took some 240 hostage in the October 7 attacks that triggered the war.

Israel’s subsequent aerial and ground offensive has killed more than 11,000 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory.

Additional reporting by Reuters, Agence France-Presse